Modern supermarkets rely on relatively fast checkout procedures to maintain competitive advantages over relatively smaller scale grocers. Checkout usually involves determining a customer's total bill and receiving payment for purchased products corresponding to the bill. Many factors can influence improvements in customer throughput, which are directed to the overall goal of maximizing sales and reducing the time a consumer spends waiting in line.
By maximizing the volume of products sold, grocery chains tend to compete more effectively because overall prices may be lowered to attract a greater number of shoppers and still maintain acceptable profits. Moreover, in reducing the time a consumer waits in line at the checkout stand, customer satisfaction increases, tending to improve the probability of that customer returning. One of the keys to the grocery industry's success in maximizing customer throughput and minimizing checkout times involves a coded label known as a bar code.
A typical bar code includes a two-dimensional pattern comprising horizontally adjacent black and white vertical bars of varying widths. The respective widths and positions correspond to a coded identification number representing a particular item. The code is printed on a label that is affixed to the item, eliminating the need for a separate price tag. At the time of purchase, instead of manually inputting a price using register keys, the grocery clerk merely positions the bar code within the field of view of a bar code scanner. The scanner reads the code, automatically rings up the product price, and causes the name of the item and the price to print out on a convenient receipt.
Conventional bar code readers generally include a laser beam directed along a scanning path by a rotating mirror. A photodetector, positioned within the scanner and oriented substantially along the path of light reflected from the bar code and received within the scanner beam, detects the reflections of the beam from a targeted surface. When the scanner targets a bar code, the reflected components of the beam vary in intensity depending on whether the reflection was incident a white or black bar. An input filter analyzes the data to determine components that exceed respective positive and negative thresholds corresponding to transitions between black and white bars. The coded transitions are then decoded by a bar code processor to command the register to automatically ring up the product and its corresponding price.
While conventional bar code scanners are beneficial for their intended purposes, i.e. to dramatically improve supermarket checkout times, such scanners typically only identify the contents of bar codes. This proves problematic for produce. As a result, most checkout stand equipment typically requires the operator or clerk to manually input a code identifying the many fruits and vegetables purchased and the corresponding price. Unfortunately, this procedure requires a substantial amount of training for the checkout stand clerks to properly recognize and identify the fruits and vegetables. Even with the investment in costly training, error rates often run as high as twenty percent. Moreover, the procedure frequently involves significant delays, since the clerk often must refer to a price table to match the items to the proper prices.
A limited solution to the above problem involves affixing individual labels to all fruits and vegetables. These labels typically comprise a human-readable name or number, and may include a bar code. Such labels tend to eliminate most identification errors, but fail to speed up the checkout procedure.
Although applying labels to individual articles of produce appears beneficial in some instances, problems exist for many fruits and vegetables. In one aspect, the sheer numbers of fruits and vegetables create significant labor costs in order to effect the labeling procedure. Much of the cost arises from assigning employees to individually apply the labels to sizeable quantities of produce. Further, label removal by customers from fruits and vegetables having delicate surfaces often damages those surfaces due to the adhesive associated with the labels.
Because of the problems described above, those skilled in the art have recognized the need for a system and method of identifying produce in a timely and efficient manner in order to minimize checkout times, maximize pricing accuracy, and eliminate unnecessary food waste. The system and method of our present invention satisfies these needs.